3 Oct 2019
Lifestyle

Our Wedding Day Story

A look back at our wedding day on our 2nd anniversary

I cannot believe that it has been almost two years since our wedding weekend. Where on earth does the time go? Today I’m going to share with you the story of our wedding and some lessons I’ve learned along the way. I’ll be spilling the details about all of our vendors at the end of this post. So…without further ado…!

I have always loved planning, and since I am a certified event planner, I knew I wanted to plan every detail of my wedding. Along with the help of my mom, the entire event was planned in 3 months. And, despite a couple of hiccups along the way (which I will get into later), our wedding turned out beautifully.

THE VENUE

Our wedding location was at Crane Cottage on Jekyll Island. I discovered it on Pinterest and immediately fell in love with its charm and beauty. I convinced my now-husband, Kurt, to take a 5-hour drive to tour the venue, and I instantly knew it was “the one.” With views of the river and a canopy of ancient oaks that are covered in Spanish moss, I was left speechless. We decided to have the ceremony in the formal sunken garden followed by cocktail hour on the reflecting pool lawn. The romantic courtyard was the perfect spot for our seated dinner. We finished the event with the cake, cutting and dancing in the living room and library.

THE BIG DAY

We had our rehearsal dinner under the stars in front of the cottage surrounded by twinkling lights on Friday night. We rented out the entire cottage and had the bridal party and family stay there. The rest of the guests stayed at the main hotel next door.

On the big day, I had all of the girls get ready in my bridal suite. We wore matching silk robes and jeweled flip flops. As champagne was passed around, we played music and began to get ready. I had each of the girls wear a different long black gown as I did not want to have them wear traditional matching bridesmaids dresses. The men wore classic black tuxedos. I hired a hairstylist to do our hair; however, we did our makeup. I even did my mom’s makeup, which was so special. It was honestly so relaxing and laid back as we all just hung out for the majority of the afternoon getting ready. I didn’t feel nervous or anxious. I remember just completely enjoying those few hours.

THE DRESS

As it got closer to the ceremony, I slipped into my dress.

Ahhhh, the dress! Since I have a background in fashion design, this was one of the most important elements of my wedding. My mom and I found it on a whim when we were having lunch in Manhattan and decided to pop into a bridal showroom. I had a major fashion crush on Berta Bridal, an Israeli based fashion house, so I already had an idea of what I wanted. I chose three dresses to try on, and the third gown was the winner. It was surprisingly, so easy and effortless. We also picked out my veil, which I completely forgot to put on for my ceremony. I didn’t remember it until I was at the reception. But it worked out for the best because I loved the back of my dress and I’m happy my guests got to see it. I had my photographer take a couple of quick pics of me wearing it when I finally remembered.

THE CEREMONY

Right before the ceremony, I was handed my bouquet, and I was in shock! Since the venue was at least 5 hours away from home, this was somewhat of a destination wedding for us. Due to time constraints, all of our communication with the florist was through email and over the phone. Big mistake! If I could redo my wedding, I would have made time to meet with her in person and have her FaceTime me throughout the process. I had sent her exact pictures of everything that I wanted, and she assured me she would deliver just that. I had sent her photos of big white bouquets with tons of greenery. We wanted it to look like I just picked them from the garden. I received tiny, structured arrangements with no greenery. All of the flowers were wrong from the bouquets to the centerpieces. It was truly disappointing to see this since I dedicated a big chunk of my budget to the floral design. As my mom and bridesmaids tried to reassure me that it wasn’t “that bad,” I sucked it up, took a swig of champagne, and realized that I’m about to walk down the aisle to the love of my life. They say that you can plan every detail down to a T, but something will always go wrong on a wedding day, but the attitude you hold will be the key to your happiness. (A good life lesson too!)

I will never forget the moments before the ceremony, holding hands with my beautiful girlfriends in their bridesmaid’s dresses as they gathered around checking to see if I remembered to apply my false lashes and had everything I needed. My body flooded with emotion moments before I stepped out the door; I was about to step into the next chapter in my life.

Our ceremony took place at sunset. We had the chairs lining the aisle strung with eucalyptus garland and large stone urns filled with flowers on either side of the Officiant. We had a small, intimate wedding with only our family and closest friends. Our two dogs were also in the ceremony and walked down the aisle with the bridal party. Chance, a dachshund-mix, wore a black bow tie, and Chloe, a long-haired dachshund, wore a handmade floral collar made by my mom. A violinist played a special song as I walked down the aisle with my mom and dad by my side. As I walked towards Kurt, I saw tears in his eyes and tried my best to keep it together. We kept our ceremony short and sweet. We also had a sand ceremony and used sand that we have been collecting for years. Every time we visit somewhere new, we take a little bit of sand home with us, including the sand that we collected when Kurt proposed to me in Kauai, Hawaii.

As the Officiant announced us as husband and wife, we walked back down the aisle, and our dog Chloe broker free from her leash and ran after us. My mom holding the broken leash, tried to run after her, which isn’t easy to do when you are wearing heels in the grass! It was a really funny moment, and I’m so glad our photographer captured it.

THE RECEPTION

After the cocktail hour and photos, our guests were escorted into the cottage living room where we had our choreographed first dance. Dinner followed in the beautiful courtyard. The candlelit tables had eucalyptus garland running down the center. The guest’s names were hand-written by me on magnolia leaves on each place setting. We filled mini mason jars with white M&M’s as party favors. We had to be mindful of the size of the favors since everyone flew in, and we needed something small that could be packed in their luggage. There was a beautiful fountain in the middle of the courtyard that had the buffet stations centered around. After dinner, we danced the night away. Yet, we still had one unforgettable surprise for our guests. We led the guests outside, counted down from 5,4,3,2,1, and boom! Fireworks went off over the river. We still hear about how amazing it was from our friends and family to this day.

As the end of the night quickly approached, we left our guests in a horse-drawn carriage while they held sparklers and waved to us goodbye.

My wedding turned out to be just as I had always dreamed it would be. Yes, like most weddings, there were a couple of things that went wrong, including my cake, which had a significant dent on the side. My maid of honor had to cover it with flowers from her bouquet. But other than that, I love how classic everything was and how even in another 15 years, I won’t think how “dated” things look. That was my goal: A classic, timeless wedding. Two years later, I still love looking back at photos and thinking about how fun that day was.

Our Vendors

If you have any wedding advice or things that you would do differently, I would love to hear about it in the comments. Also, what were your most memorable wedding moments that you’ll never forget?

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